Indian hosts’ description of what would later
be named the Great Salt Lake:
The other lake with which this one commu-
nicates, according to what they told us, cov-
ers many leagues, and its waters are noxious
and extremely salty, for the Timpanois assure
us that a person who moistens any part of his
body with the water of the lake immediately
feels much itching in the part that is wet.The expedition turned sharply southwest,
nearly dying of thirst in what is now known as
Escalante Desert. Near present-day Cedar
City, Utah, they calculated—relatively accu-
rately, being only 2 degrees off—that continu-
ing directly west would bring them to
Monterey. After they nearly expired in the
desert, however, oncoming winter snow and
hunger threatened them. On October 4 a bliz-
zardconvinced Escalante and Dominguez toThe Road to California B 155
When exploring the area of present-day Utah, Friars Dominquez and de Escalante met some Ute Indians.
In this 1899 photograph five Ute women pose in traditional dress. (Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs
Division [LC-USZ62-111568])